Ujiyasu Hojo

Ujiyasu Hojo (1515-4 August 1590) was the daimyo of the Hojo clan after the death of his father Ujitsuna Hojo in August 1541.

Biography
Ujiyasu was the son of the great Hojo clan daimyo Ujitsuna Hojo, who was the most powerful warlord in the Kanto region. Upon his death in 1541 the Hojo were perceived to be weak and the Ashikaga Shogunate rallied an army to defeat them. The Uesugi, Takeda, Imagawa, Ogigayatsu, and other allies of the Ashikaga gathered under Tomosada Uesugi and besieged Kawagoe Castle in 1545. Ujiyasu Hojo fought these men in a desperate battle, but won by launching a surprise attack; he ordered his men to drop their heavy armor and charge the enemy camp. The coalition began to fight amongst each other, and Ujiyasu took advantage of this to secure Koga and defeat the Uesugi Coalition.

After this battle, the "Fool of Sagami" took his chance to conquer more lands and went on campaign against the Takeda and Imagawa in Suruga Province in 1556. After a series of skirmishes, he decided to make an alliance with the Takeda and Imagawa to also secure peace. But Kenshin Uesugi, a rising warlord from Echigo Province, invaded his lands in favor of Norimasa Ogigayatsu, one of his relatives, in 1561. The Hojo, assisted by Shingen Takeda, defeated this invading army with heavy losses on both sides, and Ujiyasu kept control over Odawara Castle and the Kanto region. It seemed that Ujiyasu would control the Kanto when news came of Yoshimoto Imagawa's death in the 1560 Battle of Okehazama. Shingen became an enemy of the Hojo and invaded Hojo lands in 1569, and Ujiyasu repelled an attack on Odawara. Shingen attempted to withdraw but Ujiyasu managed to block him at the Battle of Mimase Pass, during which the Takeda suffered so heavy losses that they were forced to sue for peace once more. Ujiyasu refused to kill Shingen, as he needed to maintain peace in Kanto by keeping the three clans in equal power.

With the three united, Ujiyasu was sent to defend Kanto while the Uesugi and Takeda marched on Kyoto in alliance. He faced Ieyasu Tokugawa and Masamune Date, whose Tokugawa-Date army had set out to take advantage of the absence of the Uesugi and Takeda armies to attempt to capture the province from the Hojo, Ujiyasu took part in the Great Kanto Defense, and repelled these attacks on his lands, letting the Uesugi and Takeda resume their march.

When Shingen died of illness after the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, the march ended, and in 1575 the Takeda were decisively defeated at the Battle of Nagashino. Ujiyasu allied with the Tokugawa clan and fought alongside them in the Battle of Ueda Castle in 1585 in an attempt to capture the castle from the powerful Sanada. But due to clever ploys and a brave defense, the Sanada defeated the Tokugawa and their allies and defended their lands. Ujiyasu was forced to return to Sagami in defeat.

As the 1580s came to a close, it became evident that Japan was close to unification. Hideyoshi Hashiba, a former general of Nobunaga Oda, forced warlords into submission after many campaigns. Most of Japan was under his control, but Ujiyasu and the Hojo resisted from Sagami and Totomi Provinces. In 1590 Hideyoshi and armies from across Japan converged on the Hojo strongholds of Odawara and Oshi, the last defenses that stood against Hideyoshi. Ujiyasu sent Concubine Kai to defend Oshi while he held Odawara, and Kai performed better than he did. Ujiyasu's forces were defeated after a long battle with the forces of the Toyotomi Shogunate, and Ujiyasu was forced to surrender. He died of illness before the fall of Oshi Castle, and Kai had to surrender after he died.